install

Specify rules to run at install time.

Synopsis

install(TARGETS <target>... [...])
install(IMPORTED_RUNTIME_ARTIFACTS <target>... [...])
install({FILES | PROGRAMS} <file>... [...])
install(DIRECTORY <dir>... [...])
install(SCRIPT <file> [...])
install(CODE <code> [...])
install(EXPORT <export-name> [...])
install(PACKAGE_INFO <package-name> [...])
install(RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET <set-name> [...])

Introduction

This command generates installation rules for a project. Install rules specified by calls to the install() command within a source directory are executed in order during installation.

Changed in version 3.14: Install rules in subdirectories added by calls to the add_subdirectory() command are interleaved with those in the parent directory to run in the order declared (see policy CMP0082).

Changed in version 3.22: The environment variable CMAKE_INSTALL_MODE can override the default copying behavior of install().

Changed in version 3.31: Projects can enable INSTALL_PARALLEL to enable a parallel installation. When using the parallel install, subdirectories added by calls to the add_subdirectory() command are installed independently and the order that install rules added in different subdirectories will run is not guaranteed.

There are multiple signatures for this command. Some of them define installation options for files and targets. Options common to multiple signatures are covered here but they are valid only for signatures that specify them. The common options are:

DESTINATION <dir>

Specify the directory on disk to which a file will be installed. <dir> should be a relative path. An absolute path is allowed, but not recommended.

When a relative path is given, it is interpreted relative to the value of the CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX variable. The prefix can be relocated at install time using the DESTDIR mechanism explained in the CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX variable documentation.

As absolute paths do not work with the cmake --install command's --prefix option, or with the cpack installer generators, it is strongly recommended to use relative paths throughout for best support by package maintainers. In particular, there is no need to make paths absolute by prepending CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX; this prefix is used by default if the DESTINATION is a relative path.

If an absolute path (with a leading slash or drive letter) is given it is used verbatim.

Changed in version 3.31: <dir> will be normalized according to the same normalization rules as the cmake_path() command.

PERMISSIONS <permission>...

Specify permissions for installed files. Valid permissions are OWNER_READ, OWNER_WRITE, OWNER_EXECUTE, GROUP_READ, GROUP_WRITE, GROUP_EXECUTE, WORLD_READ, WORLD_WRITE, WORLD_EXECUTE, SETUID, and SETGID. Permissions that do not make sense on certain platforms are ignored on those platforms.

If this option is used multiple times in a single call, its list of permissions accumulates. If an install(TARGETS) call uses <artifact-kind> arguments, a separate list of permissions is accumulated for each kind of artifact.

CONFIGURATIONS <config>...

Specify a list of build configurations for which the install rule applies (Debug, Release, etc.).

If this option is used multiple times in a single call, its list of configurations accumulates. If an install(TARGETS) call uses <artifact-kind> arguments, a separate list of configurations is accumulated for each kind of artifact.

COMPONENT <component>

Specify an installation component name with which the install rule is associated, such as Runtime or Development. During component-specific installation only install rules associated with the given component name will be executed. During a full installation all components are installed unless marked with EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL. If COMPONENT is not provided a default component "Unspecified" is created. The default component name may be controlled with the CMAKE_INSTALL_DEFAULT_COMPONENT_NAME variable.

EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL

Added in version 3.6.

Specify that the file is excluded from a full installation and only installed as part of a component-specific installation

OPTIONAL

Specify that it is not an error if the file to be installed does not exist.

Added in version 3.1: Command signatures that install files may print messages during installation. Use the CMAKE_INSTALL_MESSAGE variable to control which messages are printed.

Added in version 3.11: Many of the install() variants implicitly create the directories containing the installed files. If CMAKE_INSTALL_DEFAULT_DIRECTORY_PERMISSIONS is set, these directories will be created with the permissions specified. Otherwise, they will be created according to the uname rules on Unix-like platforms. Windows platforms are unaffected.

Signatures

install(TARGETS <target>... [...])

Install target Output Artifacts and associated files:

install(TARGETS <target>... [EXPORT <export-name>]
        [RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES <arg>...|RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET <set-name>]
        [<artifact-option>...]
        [<artifact-kind> <artifact-option>...]...
        [INCLUDES DESTINATION [<dir> ...]]
        )

where <artifact-option>... group may contain:

[DESTINATION <dir>]
[PERMISSIONS <permission>...]
[CONFIGURATIONS <config>...]
[COMPONENT <component>]
[NAMELINK_COMPONENT <component>]
[OPTIONAL] [EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL]
[NAMELINK_ONLY|NAMELINK_SKIP]

The first <artifact-option>... group applies to target Output Artifacts that do not have a dedicated group specified later in the same call.

Each <artifact-kind> <artifact-option>... group applies to Output Artifacts of the specified artifact kind:

ARCHIVE

Target artifacts of this kind include:

  • Static libraries (except on macOS when marked as FRAMEWORK, see below);

  • DLL import libraries (on all Windows-based systems including Cygwin; they have extension .lib, in contrast to the .dll libraries that go to RUNTIME);

  • On AIX, the linker import file created for executables with ENABLE_EXPORTS enabled.

  • On macOS, the linker import file created for shared libraries with ENABLE_EXPORTS enabled (except when marked as FRAMEWORK, see below).

LIBRARY

Target artifacts of this kind include:

  • Shared libraries, except

    • DLLs (these go to RUNTIME, see below),

    • on macOS when marked as FRAMEWORK (see below).

RUNTIME

Target artifacts of this kind include:

  • Executables (except on macOS when marked as MACOSX_BUNDLE, see BUNDLE below);

  • DLLs (on all Windows-based systems including Cygwin; note that the accompanying import libraries are of kind ARCHIVE).

OBJECTS

Added in version 3.9.

Object files associated with object libraries.

FRAMEWORK

Both static and shared libraries marked with the FRAMEWORK property are treated as FRAMEWORK targets on macOS.

BUNDLE

Executables marked with the MACOSX_BUNDLE property are treated as BUNDLE targets on macOS.

PUBLIC_HEADER

Any PUBLIC_HEADER files associated with a library are installed in the destination specified by the PUBLIC_HEADER argument on non-Apple platforms. Rules defined by this argument are ignored for FRAMEWORK libraries on Apple platforms because the associated files are installed into the appropriate locations inside the framework folder. See PUBLIC_HEADER for details.

PRIVATE_HEADER

Similar to PUBLIC_HEADER, but for PRIVATE_HEADER files. See PRIVATE_HEADER for details.

RESOURCE

Similar to PUBLIC_HEADER and PRIVATE_HEADER, but for RESOURCE files. See RESOURCE for details.

FILE_SET <set-name>

Added in version 3.23.

File sets are defined by the target_sources(FILE_SET) command. If the file set <set-name> exists and is PUBLIC or INTERFACE, any files in the set are installed under the destination (see below). The directory structure relative to the file set's base directories is preserved. For example, a file added to the file set as /blah/include/myproj/here.h with a base directory /blah/include would be installed to myproj/here.h below the destination.

CXX_MODULES_BMI

Added in version 3.28.

Any module files from C++ modules from PUBLIC sources in a file set of type CXX_MODULES will be installed to the given DESTINATION. All modules are placed directly in the destination as no directory structure is derived from the names of the modules. An empty DESTINATION may be used to suppress installing these files (for use in generic code).

For regular executables, static libraries and shared libraries, the DESTINATION argument is not required. For these target types, when DESTINATION is omitted, a default destination will be taken from the appropriate variable from GNUInstallDirs, or set to a built-in default value if that variable is not defined. The same is true for file sets, and the public and private headers associated with the installed targets through the PUBLIC_HEADER and PRIVATE_HEADER target properties. A destination must always be provided for module libraries, Apple bundles and frameworks. A destination can be omitted for interface and object libraries, but they are handled differently (see the discussion of this topic toward the end of this section).

For shared libraries on DLL platforms, if neither RUNTIME nor ARCHIVE destinations are specified, both the RUNTIME and ARCHIVE components are installed to their default destinations. If either a RUNTIME or ARCHIVE destination is specified, the component is installed to that destination, and the other component is not installed. If both RUNTIME and ARCHIVE destinations are specified, then both components are installed to their respective destinations.

The following table shows the target types with their associated variables and built-in defaults that apply when no destination is given:

Target Type

GNUInstallDirs Variable

Built-In Default

RUNTIME

${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR}

bin

LIBRARY

${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}

lib

ARCHIVE

${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}

lib

PRIVATE_HEADER

${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}

include

PUBLIC_HEADER

${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}

include

FILE_SET (type HEADERS)

${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}

include

Projects wishing to follow the common practice of installing headers into a project-specific subdirectory may prefer using file sets with appropriate paths and base directories. Otherwise, they must provide a DESTINATION instead of being able to rely on the above (see next example below).

To make packages compliant with distribution filesystem layout policies, if projects must specify a DESTINATION, it is strongly recommended that they use a path that begins with the appropriate relative GNUInstallDirs variable. This allows package maintainers to control the install destination by setting the appropriate cache variables. The following example shows a static library being installed to the default destination provided by GNUInstallDirs, but with its headers installed to a project-specific subdirectory without using file sets:

add_library(mylib STATIC ...)
set_target_properties(mylib PROPERTIES PUBLIC_HEADER mylib.h)
include(GNUInstallDirs)
install(TARGETS mylib
        PUBLIC_HEADER
          DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}/myproj
)

In addition to the common options listed above, each target can accept the following additional arguments:

NAMELINK_COMPONENT

Added in version 3.12.

On some platforms a versioned shared library has a symbolic link such as:

lib<name>.so -> lib<name>.so.1

where lib<name>.so.1 is the soname of the library and lib<name>.so is a "namelink" allowing linkers to find the library when given -l<name>. The NAMELINK_COMPONENT option is similar to the COMPONENT option, but it changes the installation component of a shared library namelink if one is generated. If not specified, this defaults to the value of COMPONENT. It is an error to use this parameter outside of a LIBRARY block.

Changed in version 3.27: This parameter is also usable for an ARCHIVE block to manage the linker import file created, on macOS, for shared libraries with ENABLE_EXPORTS enabled.

See the Example: Install Targets with Per-Artifact Components for an example using NAMELINK_COMPONENT.

This option is typically used for package managers that have separate runtime and development packages. For example, on Debian systems, the library is expected to be in the runtime package, and the headers and namelink are expected to be in the development package.

See the VERSION and SOVERSION target properties for details on creating versioned shared libraries.

NAMELINK_ONLY

This option causes the installation of only the namelink when a library target is installed. On platforms where versioned shared libraries do not have namelinks or when a library is not versioned, the NAMELINK_ONLY option installs nothing. It is an error to use this parameter outside of a LIBRARY block.

Changed in version 3.27: This parameter is also usable for an ARCHIVE block to manage the linker import file created, on macOS, for shared libraries with ENABLE_EXPORTS enabled.

When NAMELINK_ONLY is given, either NAMELINK_COMPONENT or COMPONENT may be used to specify the installation component of the namelink, but COMPONENT should generally be preferred.

NAMELINK_SKIP

Similar to NAMELINK_ONLY, but it has the opposite effect: it causes the installation of library files other than the namelink when a library target is installed. When neither NAMELINK_ONLY or NAMELINK_SKIP are given, both portions are installed. On platforms where versioned shared libraries do not have symlinks or when a library is not versioned, NAMELINK_SKIP installs the library. It is an error to use this parameter outside of a LIBRARY block.

Changed in version 3.27: This parameter is also usable for an ARCHIVE block to manage the linker import file created, on macOS, for shared libraries with ENABLE_EXPORTS enabled.

If NAMELINK_SKIP is specified, NAMELINK_COMPONENT has no effect. It is not recommended to use NAMELINK_SKIP in conjunction with NAMELINK_COMPONENT.

The install(TARGETS) command can also accept the following options at the top level:

EXPORT

This option associates the installed target files with an export called <export-name>. It must appear before any target options. To actually install the export file itself, call install(EXPORT), documented below. See documentation of the EXPORT_NAME target property to change the name of the exported target.

If EXPORT is used and the targets include PUBLIC or INTERFACE file sets, all of them must be specified with FILE_SET arguments. All PUBLIC or INTERFACE file sets associated with a target are included in the export.

INCLUDES DESTINATION

This option specifies a list of directories which will be added to the INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES target property of the <targets> when exported by the install(EXPORT) command. If a relative path is specified, it is treated as relative to the $<INSTALL_PREFIX>.

Unlike other DESTINATION arguments for the various install() subcommands, paths given after INCLUDES DESTINATION are used as given. They are not normalized, nor assumed to be normalized, although it is recommended that they are given in normalized form (see Normalization).

RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET <set-name>

Added in version 3.21.

This option causes all runtime dependencies of installed executable, shared library, and module targets to be added to the specified runtime dependency set. This set can then be installed with an install(RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET) command.

This keyword and the RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES keyword are mutually exclusive.

RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES <arg>...

Added in version 3.21.

This option causes all runtime dependencies of installed executable, shared library, and module targets to be installed along with the targets themselves. The RUNTIME, LIBRARY, FRAMEWORK, and generic arguments are used to determine the properties (DESTINATION, COMPONENT, etc.) of the installation of these dependencies.

RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES is semantically equivalent to the following pair of calls:

install(TARGETS ... RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET <set-name>)
install(RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET <set-name> <arg>...)

where <set-name> will be a randomly generated set name. <arg>... may include any of the following keywords supported by the install(RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET) command:

  • DIRECTORIES

  • PRE_INCLUDE_REGEXES

  • PRE_EXCLUDE_REGEXES

  • POST_INCLUDE_REGEXES

  • POST_EXCLUDE_REGEXES

  • POST_INCLUDE_FILES

  • POST_EXCLUDE_FILES

The RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES and RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET keywords are mutually exclusive.

Interface Libraries may be listed among the targets to install. They install no artifacts but will be included in an associated EXPORT. If Object Libraries are listed but given no destination for their object files, they will be exported as Interface Libraries. This is sufficient to satisfy transitive usage requirements of other targets that link to the object libraries in their implementation.

Installing a target with the EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL target property set to TRUE has undefined behavior.

Added in version 3.3: An install destination given as a DESTINATION argument may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions.

Added in version 3.13: install(TARGETS) can install targets that were created in other directories. When using such cross-directory install rules, running make install (or similar) from a subdirectory will not guarantee that targets from other directories are up-to-date. You can use target_link_libraries() or add_dependencies() to ensure that such out-of-directory targets are built before the subdirectory-specific install rules are run.

install(IMPORTED_RUNTIME_ARTIFACTS <target>... [...])

Added in version 3.21.

Install runtime artifacts of imported targets:

install(IMPORTED_RUNTIME_ARTIFACTS <target>...
        [RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET <set-name>]
        [[LIBRARY|RUNTIME|FRAMEWORK|BUNDLE]
         [DESTINATION <dir>]
         [PERMISSIONS <permission>...]
         [CONFIGURATIONS <config>...]
         [COMPONENT <component>]
         [OPTIONAL] [EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL]
        ] [...]
        )

The IMPORTED_RUNTIME_ARTIFACTS form specifies rules for installing the runtime artifacts of imported targets. Projects may do this if they want to bundle outside executables or modules inside their installation. The LIBRARY, RUNTIME, FRAMEWORK, and BUNDLE arguments have the same semantics that they do in the TARGETS mode. Only the runtime artifacts of imported targets are installed (except in the case of FRAMEWORK libraries, MACOSX_BUNDLE executables, and BUNDLE CFBundles.) For example, headers and import libraries associated with DLLs are not installed. In the case of FRAMEWORK libraries, MACOSX_BUNDLE executables, and BUNDLE CFBundles, the entire directory is installed.

The RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET option causes the runtime artifacts of the imported executable, shared library, and module library targets to be added to the <set-name> runtime dependency set. This set can then be installed with an install(RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET) command.

install(FILES <file>... [...])
install(PROGRAMS <program>... [...])

Note

If installing header files, consider using file sets defined by target_sources(FILE_SET) instead. File sets associate headers with a target and they install as part of the target.

Install files or programs:

install(<FILES|PROGRAMS> <file>...
        TYPE <type> | DESTINATION <dir>
        [PERMISSIONS <permission>...]
        [CONFIGURATIONS <config>...]
        [COMPONENT <component>]
        [RENAME <name>] [OPTIONAL] [EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL])

The FILES form specifies rules for installing files for a project. File names given as relative paths are interpreted with respect to the current source directory. Files installed by this form are by default given permissions OWNER_WRITE, OWNER_READ, GROUP_READ, and WORLD_READ if no PERMISSIONS argument is given.

The PROGRAMS form is identical to the FILES form except that the default permissions for the installed file also include OWNER_EXECUTE, GROUP_EXECUTE, and WORLD_EXECUTE. This form is intended to install programs that are not targets, such as shell scripts. Use the TARGETS form to install targets built within the project.

The list of files... given to FILES or PROGRAMS may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. However, if any item begins in a generator expression it must evaluate to a full path.

The optional RENAME <name> argument is used to specify a name for the installed file that is different from the original file name. Renaming is allowed only when a single file is installed by the command.

Either a TYPE or a DESTINATION must be provided, but not both. A TYPE argument specifies the generic file type of the files being installed. A destination will then be set automatically by taking the corresponding variable from GNUInstallDirs, or by using a built-in default if that variable is not defined. See the table below for the supported file types and their corresponding variables and built-in defaults. Projects can provide a DESTINATION argument instead of a file type if they wish to explicitly define the install destination.

TYPE Argument

GNUInstallDirs Variable

Built-In Default

BIN

${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR}

bin

SBIN

${CMAKE_INSTALL_SBINDIR}

sbin

LIB

${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}

lib

INCLUDE

${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}

include

SYSCONF

${CMAKE_INSTALL_SYSCONFDIR}

etc

SHAREDSTATE

${CMAKE_INSTALL_SHARESTATEDIR}

com

LOCALSTATE

${CMAKE_INSTALL_LOCALSTATEDIR}

var

RUNSTATE

${CMAKE_INSTALL_RUNSTATEDIR}

<LOCALSTATE dir>/run

DATA

${CMAKE_INSTALL_DATADIR}

<DATAROOT dir>

INFO

${CMAKE_INSTALL_INFODIR}

<DATAROOT dir>/info

LOCALE

${CMAKE_INSTALL_LOCALEDIR}

<DATAROOT dir>/locale

MAN

${CMAKE_INSTALL_MANDIR}

<DATAROOT dir>/man

DOC

${CMAKE_INSTALL_DOCDIR}

<DATAROOT dir>/doc

LIBEXEC

${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBEXECDIR}

libexec

Projects wishing to follow the common practice of installing headers into a project-specific subdirectory will need to provide a destination rather than rely on the above. Using file sets for headers instead of install(FILES) would be even better (see target_sources(FILE_SET)).

Note that some of the types' built-in defaults use the DATAROOT directory as a prefix. The DATAROOT prefix is calculated similarly to the types, with CMAKE_INSTALL_DATAROOTDIR as the variable and share as the built-in default. You cannot use DATAROOT as a TYPE parameter; please use DATA instead.

To make packages compliant with distribution filesystem layout policies, if projects must specify a DESTINATION, it is strongly recommended that they use a path that begins with the appropriate relative GNUInstallDirs variable. This allows package maintainers to control the install destination by setting the appropriate cache variables. The following example shows how to follow this advice while installing an image to a project-specific documentation subdirectory:

include(GNUInstallDirs)
install(FILES logo.png
        DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_DOCDIR}/myproj
)

Added in version 3.4: An install destination given as a DESTINATION argument may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions.

Added in version 3.20: An install rename given as a RENAME argument may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions.

Added in version 3.31: The TYPE argument now supports type LIBEXEC.

install(DIRECTORY <dir>... [...])

Note

To install a directory sub-tree of headers, consider using file sets defined by target_sources(FILE_SET) instead. File sets not only preserve directory structure, they also associate headers with a target and install as part of the target.

Install the contents of one or more directories:

install(DIRECTORY dirs...
        TYPE <type> | DESTINATION <dir>
        [FILE_PERMISSIONS <permission>...]
        [DIRECTORY_PERMISSIONS <permission>...]
        [USE_SOURCE_PERMISSIONS] [OPTIONAL] [MESSAGE_NEVER]
        [CONFIGURATIONS <config>...]
        [COMPONENT <component>] [EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL]
        [FILES_MATCHING]
        [[PATTERN <pattern> | REGEX <regex>]
         [EXCLUDE] [PERMISSIONS <permission>...]] [...])

The DIRECTORY form installs contents of one or more directories to a given destination. The directory structure is copied verbatim to the destination. The last component of each directory name is appended to the destination directory but a trailing slash may be used to avoid this because it leaves the last component empty. Directory names given as relative paths are interpreted with respect to the current source directory. If no input directory names are given the destination directory will be created but nothing will be installed into it. The FILE_PERMISSIONS and DIRECTORY_PERMISSIONS options specify permissions given to files and directories in the destination. If USE_SOURCE_PERMISSIONS is specified and FILE_PERMISSIONS is not, file permissions will be copied from the source directory structure. If no permissions are specified files will be given the default permissions specified in the FILES form of the command, and the directories will be given the default permissions specified in the PROGRAMS form of the command.

Added in version 3.1: The MESSAGE_NEVER option disables file installation status output.

Installation of directories may be controlled with fine granularity using the PATTERN or REGEX options. These "match" options specify a globbing pattern or regular expression to match directories or files encountered within input directories. They may be used to apply certain options (see below) to a subset of the files and directories encountered. The full path to each input file or directory (with forward slashes) is matched against the expression. A PATTERN will match only complete file names: the portion of the full path matching the pattern must occur at the end of the file name and be preceded by a slash. A REGEX will match any portion of the full path but it may use / and $ to simulate the PATTERN behavior. By default all files and directories are installed whether or not they are matched. The FILES_MATCHING option may be given before the first match option to disable installation of files (but not directories) not matched by any expression. For example, the code

install(DIRECTORY src/ DESTINATION doc/myproj
        FILES_MATCHING PATTERN "*.png")

will extract and install images from a source tree.

Some options may follow a PATTERN or REGEX expression as described under string(REGEX) and are applied only to files or directories matching them. The EXCLUDE option will skip the matched file or directory. The PERMISSIONS option overrides the permissions setting for the matched file or directory. For example the code

install(DIRECTORY icons scripts/ DESTINATION share/myproj
        PATTERN "CVS" EXCLUDE
        PATTERN "scripts/*"
        PERMISSIONS OWNER_EXECUTE OWNER_WRITE OWNER_READ
                    GROUP_EXECUTE GROUP_READ)

will install the icons directory to share/myproj/icons and the scripts directory to share/myproj. The icons will get default file permissions, the scripts will be given specific permissions, and any CVS directories will be excluded.

Either a TYPE or a DESTINATION must be provided, but not both. A TYPE argument specifies the generic file type of the files within the listed directories being installed. A destination will then be set automatically by taking the corresponding variable from GNUInstallDirs, or by using a built-in default if that variable is not defined. See the table below for the supported file types and their corresponding variables and built-in defaults. Projects can provide a DESTINATION argument instead of a file type if they wish to explicitly define the install destination.

TYPE Argument

GNUInstallDirs Variable

Built-In Default

BIN

${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR}

bin

SBIN

${CMAKE_INSTALL_SBINDIR}

sbin

LIB

${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}

lib

INCLUDE

${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}

include

SYSCONF

${CMAKE_INSTALL_SYSCONFDIR}

etc

SHAREDSTATE

${CMAKE_INSTALL_SHARESTATEDIR}

com

LOCALSTATE

${CMAKE_INSTALL_LOCALSTATEDIR}

var

RUNSTATE

${CMAKE_INSTALL_RUNSTATEDIR}

<LOCALSTATE dir>/run

DATA

${CMAKE_INSTALL_DATADIR}

<DATAROOT dir>

INFO

${CMAKE_INSTALL_INFODIR}

<DATAROOT dir>/info

LOCALE

${CMAKE_INSTALL_LOCALEDIR}

<DATAROOT dir>/locale

MAN

${CMAKE_INSTALL_MANDIR}

<DATAROOT dir>/man

DOC

${CMAKE_INSTALL_DOCDIR}

<DATAROOT dir>/doc

LIBEXEC

${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBEXECDIR}

libexec

Note that some of the types' built-in defaults use the DATAROOT directory as a prefix. The DATAROOT prefix is calculated similarly to the types, with CMAKE_INSTALL_DATAROOTDIR as the variable and share as the built-in default. You cannot use DATAROOT as a TYPE parameter; please use DATA instead.

To make packages compliant with distribution filesystem layout policies, if projects must specify a DESTINATION, it is strongly recommended that they use a path that begins with the appropriate relative GNUInstallDirs variable. This allows package maintainers to control the install destination by setting the appropriate cache variables.

Added in version 3.4: An install destination given as a DESTINATION argument may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions.

Added in version 3.5: The list of dirs... given to DIRECTORY may use "generator expressions" too.

Added in version 3.31: The TYPE argument now supports type LIBEXEC.

install(SCRIPT <file> [...])
install(CODE <code> [...])

Invoke CMake scripts or code during installation:

install([[SCRIPT <file>] [CODE <code>]]
        [ALL_COMPONENTS | COMPONENT <component>]
        [EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL] [...])

The SCRIPT form will invoke the given CMake script files during installation. If the script file name is a relative path it will be interpreted with respect to the current source directory. The CODE form will invoke the given CMake code during installation. Code is specified as a single argument inside a double-quoted string. For example, the code

install(CODE "MESSAGE(\"Sample install message.\")")

will print a message during installation.

Added in version 3.21: When the ALL_COMPONENTS option is given, the custom installation script code will be executed for every component of a component-specific installation. This option is mutually exclusive with the COMPONENT option.

Added in version 3.14: <file> or <code> may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...> (in the case of <file>, this refers to their use in the file name, not the file's contents). See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions.

install(EXPORT <export-name> [...])

Install a CMake file exporting targets for dependent projects:

install(EXPORT <export-name> DESTINATION <dir>
        [NAMESPACE <namespace>] [FILE <name>.cmake]
        [PERMISSIONS <permission>...]
        [CONFIGURATIONS <config>...]
        [CXX_MODULES_DIRECTORY <directory>]
        [EXPORT_LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES]
        [COMPONENT <component>]
        [EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL]
        [EXPORT_PACKAGE_DEPENDENCIES])
install(EXPORT_ANDROID_MK <export-name> DESTINATION <dir> [...])

The EXPORT form generates and installs a CMake file containing code to import targets from the installation tree into another project. Target installations are associated with the export <export-name> using the EXPORT option of the install(TARGETS) signature documented above. The NAMESPACE option will prepend <namespace> to the target names as they are written to the import file. By default the generated file will be called <export-name>.cmake but the FILE option may be used to specify a different name. The value given to the FILE option must be a file name with the .cmake extension.

If a CONFIGURATIONS option is given then the file will only be installed when one of the named configurations is installed. Additionally, the generated import file will reference only the matching target configurations. See the CMAKE_MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_<CONFIG> variable to map configurations of dependent projects to the installed configurations. The EXPORT_LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES keyword, if present, causes the contents of the properties matching (IMPORTED_)?LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES(_<CONFIG>)? to be exported, when policy CMP0022 is NEW.

Note

The installed <export-name>.cmake file may come with additional per-configuration <export-name>-*.cmake files to be loaded by globbing. Do not use an export name that is the same as the package name in combination with installing a <package-name>-config.cmake file or the latter may be incorrectly matched by the glob and loaded.

When a COMPONENT option is given, the listed <component> implicitly depends on all components mentioned in the export set. The exported <name>.cmake file will require each of the exported components to be present in order for dependent projects to build properly. For example, a project may define components Runtime and Development, with shared libraries going into the Runtime component and static libraries and headers going into the Development component. The export set would also typically be part of the Development component, but it would export targets from both the Runtime and Development components. Therefore, the Runtime component would need to be installed if the Development component was installed, but not vice versa. If the Development component was installed without the Runtime component, dependent projects that try to link against it would have build errors. Package managers, such as APT and RPM, typically handle this by listing the Runtime component as a dependency of the Development component in the package metadata, ensuring that the library is always installed if the headers and CMake export file are present.

Added in version 3.7: In addition to cmake language files, the EXPORT_ANDROID_MK mode may be used to specify an export to the android ndk build system. This mode accepts the same options as the normal export mode. The Android NDK supports the use of prebuilt libraries, both static and shared. This allows cmake to build the libraries of a project and make them available to an ndk build system complete with transitive dependencies, include flags and defines required to use the libraries.

CXX_MODULES_DIRECTORY

Added in version 3.28.

Specify a subdirectory to store C++ module information for targets in the export set. This directory will be populated with files which add the necessary target property information to the relevant targets. Note that without this information, none of the C++ modules which are part of the targets in the export set will support being imported in consuming targets.

EXPORT_PACKAGE_DEPENDENCIES

Note

Experimental. Gated by CMAKE_EXPERIMENTAL_EXPORT_PACKAGE_DEPENDENCIES.

Specify that find_dependency() calls should be exported. If this argument is specified, CMake examines all targets in the export set and gathers their INTERFACE link targets. If any such targets either were found with find_package() or have the EXPORT_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME property set, and such package dependency was not disabled by passing ENABLED OFF to export(SETUP), then a find_dependency() call is written with the target's corresponding package name, a REQUIRED argument, and any additional arguments specified by the EXTRA_ARGS argument of export(SETUP). Any package dependencies that were manually specified by passing ENABLED ON to export(SETUP) are also added, even if the exported targets don't depend on any targets from them.

The find_dependency() calls are written in the following order:

  1. Any package dependencies that were listed in export(SETUP) are written in the order they were first specified, regardless of whether or not they contain INTERFACE dependencies of the exported targets.

  2. Any package dependencies that contain INTERFACE link dependencies of the exported targets and that were never specified in export(SETUP) are written in the order they were first found.

The EXPORT form is useful to help outside projects use targets built and installed by the current project. For example, the code

install(TARGETS myexe EXPORT myproj DESTINATION bin)
install(EXPORT myproj NAMESPACE mp_ DESTINATION lib/myproj)
install(EXPORT_ANDROID_MK myproj DESTINATION share/ndk-modules)

will install the executable myexe to <prefix>/bin and code to import it in the file <prefix>/lib/myproj/myproj.cmake and <prefix>/share/ndk-modules/Android.mk. An outside project may load this file with the include command and reference the myexe executable from the installation tree using the imported target name mp_myexe as if the target were built in its own tree.

install(PACKAGE_INFO <package-name> [...])

Added in version 3.31.

Note

Experimental. Gated by CMAKE_EXPERIMENTAL_EXPORT_PACKAGE_INFO.

Installs a Common Package Specification file exporting targets for dependent projects:

install(PACKAGE_INFO <package-name> EXPORT <export-name>
        [APPENDIX <appendix-name>]
        [DESTINATION <dir>]
        [LOWER_CASE_FILE]
        [VERSION <version>
         [COMPAT_VERSION <version>]
         [VERSION_SCHEMA <string>]]
        [DEFAULT_TARGETS <target>...]
        [DEFAULT_CONFIGURATIONS <config>...]
        [PERMISSIONS <permission>...]
        [CONFIGURATIONS <config>...]
        [COMPONENT <component>]
        [EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL])

The PACKAGE_INFO form generates and installs a Common Package Specification file which describes installed targets such that they can be consumed by another project. Target installations are associated with the export <export-name> using the EXPORT option of the install(TARGETS) signature documented above. Unlike install(EXPORT), this information is not expressed in CMake code, and can be consumed by tools other than CMake. When imported into another CMake project, the imported targets will be prefixed with <package-name>::. By default, the generated file will be called <package-name>[-<appendix-name>].cps. If LOWER_CASE_FILE is given, the package name as it appears on disk (in both the file name and install destination) will be first converted to lower case.

If DESTINATION is not specified, a platform-specific default is used.

If APPENDIX is specified, rather than generating a top level package specification, the specified targets will be exported as an appendix to the named package. Appendices may be used to separate less commonly used targets (along with their external dependencies) from the rest of a package. This enables consumers to ignore transitive dependencies for targets that they don't use, and also allows a single logical "package" to be composed of artifacts produced by multiple build trees.

Appendices are not permitted to change basic package metadata; therefore, none of VERSION, COMPAT_VERSION, VERSION_SCHEMA, DEFAULT_TARGETS or DEFAULT_CONFIGURATIONS may be specified in combination with APPENDIX. Additionally, it is strongly recommended that use of LOWER_CASE_FILE should be consistent between the main package and any appendices.

install(RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET <set-name> [...])

Added in version 3.21.

Installs a runtime dependency set:

install(RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET <set-name>
        [[LIBRARY|RUNTIME|FRAMEWORK]
         [DESTINATION <dir>]
         [PERMISSIONS <permission>...]
         [CONFIGURATIONS <config>...]
         [COMPONENT <component>]
         [NAMELINK_COMPONENT <component>]
         [OPTIONAL] [EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL]
        ] [...]
        [PRE_INCLUDE_REGEXES <regex>...]
        [PRE_EXCLUDE_REGEXES <regex>...]
        [POST_INCLUDE_REGEXES <regex>...]
        [POST_EXCLUDE_REGEXES <regex>...]
        [POST_INCLUDE_FILES <file>...]
        [POST_EXCLUDE_FILES <file>...]
        [DIRECTORIES <dir>...]
        )

Installs a runtime dependency set previously created by one or more install(TARGETS) or install(IMPORTED_RUNTIME_ARTIFACTS) commands. The dependencies of targets belonging to a runtime dependency set are installed in the RUNTIME destination and component on DLL platforms, and in the LIBRARY destination and component on non-DLL platforms. macOS frameworks are installed in the FRAMEWORK destination and component. Targets built within the build tree will never be installed as runtime dependencies, nor will their own dependencies, unless the targets themselves are installed with install(TARGETS).

The generated install script calls file(GET_RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES) on the build-tree files to calculate the runtime dependencies. The build-tree executable files are passed as the EXECUTABLES argument, the build-tree shared libraries as the LIBRARIES argument, and the build-tree modules as the MODULES argument. On macOS, if one of the executables is a MACOSX_BUNDLE, that executable is passed as the BUNDLE_EXECUTABLE argument. At most one such bundle executable may be in the runtime dependency set on macOS. The MACOSX_BUNDLE property has no effect on other platforms. Note that file(GET_RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES) only supports collecting the runtime dependencies for Windows, Linux and macOS platforms, so install(RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET) has the same limitation.

The following sub-arguments are forwarded through as the corresponding arguments to file(GET_RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES) (for those that provide a non-empty list of directories, regular expressions or files). They all support generator expressions.

  • DIRECTORIES <dir>...

  • PRE_INCLUDE_REGEXES <regex>...

  • PRE_EXCLUDE_REGEXES <regex>...

  • POST_INCLUDE_REGEXES <regex>...

  • POST_EXCLUDE_REGEXES <regex>...

  • POST_INCLUDE_FILES <file>...

  • POST_EXCLUDE_FILES <file>...

Note

This command supersedes the install_targets() command and the PRE_INSTALL_SCRIPT and POST_INSTALL_SCRIPT target properties. It also replaces the FILES forms of the install_files() and install_programs() commands. The processing order of these install rules relative to those generated by install_targets(), install_files(), and install_programs() commands is not defined.

Examples

Example: Install Targets with Per-Artifact Components

Consider a project that defines targets with different artifact kinds:

add_executable(myExe myExe.c)
add_library(myStaticLib STATIC myStaticLib.c)
target_sources(myStaticLib PUBLIC FILE_SET HEADERS FILES myStaticLib.h)
add_library(mySharedLib SHARED mySharedLib.c)
target_sources(mySharedLib PUBLIC FILE_SET HEADERS FILES mySharedLib.h)
set_property(TARGET mySharedLib PROPERTY SOVERSION 1)

We may call install(TARGETS) with <artifact-kind> arguments to specify different options for each kind of artifact:

install(TARGETS
          myExe
          mySharedLib
          myStaticLib
        RUNTIME           # Following options apply to runtime artifacts.
          COMPONENT Runtime
        LIBRARY           # Following options apply to library artifacts.
          COMPONENT Runtime
          NAMELINK_COMPONENT Development
        ARCHIVE           # Following options apply to archive artifacts.
          COMPONENT Development
          DESTINATION lib/static
        FILE_SET HEADERS  # Following options apply to file set HEADERS.
          COMPONENT Development
        )

This will:

  • Install myExe to <prefix>/bin, the default RUNTIME artifact destination, as part of the Runtime component.

  • On non-DLL platforms:

    • Install libmySharedLib.so.1 to <prefix>/lib, the default LIBRARY artifact destination, as part of the Runtime component.

    • Install the libmySharedLib.so "namelink" (symbolic link) to <prefix>/lib, the default LIBRARY artifact destination, as part of the Development component.

  • On DLL platforms:

    • Install mySharedLib.dll to <prefix>/bin, the default RUNTIME artifact destination, as part of the Runtime component.

    • Install mySharedLib.lib to <prefix>/lib/static, the specified ARCHIVE artifact destination, as part of the Development component.

  • Install myStaticLib to <prefix>/lib/static, the specified ARCHIVE artifact destination, as part of the Development component.

  • Install mySharedLib.h and myStaticLib.h to <prefix>/include, the default destination for a file set of type HEADERS, as part of the Development component.

Example: Install Targets to Per-Config Destinations

Each install(TARGETS) call installs a given target output artifact to at most one DESTINATION, but the install rule itself may be filtered by the CONFIGURATIONS option. In order to install to a different destination for each configuration, one call per configuration is needed. For example, the code:

install(TARGETS myExe
        CONFIGURATIONS Debug
        RUNTIME
          DESTINATION Debug/bin
        )
install(TARGETS myExe
        CONFIGURATIONS Release
        RUNTIME
          DESTINATION Release/bin
        )

will install myExe to <prefix>/Debug/bin in the Debug configuration, and to <prefix>/Release/bin in the Release configuration.

Generated Installation Script

Note

Use of this feature is not recommended. Please consider using the cmake --install instead.

The install() command generates a file, cmake_install.cmake, inside the build directory, which is used internally by the generated install target and by CPack. You can also invoke this script manually with cmake -P. This script accepts several variables:

COMPONENT

Set this variable to install only a single CPack component as opposed to all of them. For example, if you only want to install the Development component, run cmake -DCOMPONENT=Development -P cmake_install.cmake.

BUILD_TYPE

Set this variable to change the build type if you are using a multi-config generator. For example, to install with the Debug configuration, run cmake -DBUILD_TYPE=Debug -P cmake_install.cmake.

DESTDIR

This is an environment variable rather than a CMake variable. It allows you to change the installation prefix on UNIX systems. See DESTDIR for details.